Willow of the Wood

As I was saying about the Swedes

2009-10-30T18:05:00.000-04:00

This is where I want you to begin. Forget about IKEA. I had a momentary lapse as I struggled with packing, moving, real estate deals, lawyers, and yes even the FLU! The other day, I was flipping through pages of pictures on desiretoinspire. Yes, they are 2 very talented and creative women, one being Canadian.

They had linked over to this blog Dos Family by two women that live 7 hours apart in Sweden named Isabelle and Jenny. I love the Swedes again because they relate their distance from one another in time, a favourite pastime in Canada. And so I began my journey of getting lost on the internet.

I went here to mikodesign where blogger Erika blogged about her textile designs. Ok, I don't believe that she's Swedish, but what do I know. She has a daughter named *Mila*, so that makes her a wonderful thing. And her textile designs are to die for.

Then I went to freshly found and found myself spot on in South Africa.

Next I wandered into kids haus.

And next to one of my all time faves: Skinny laMinx. Faves because my Grampa called me Skinny MaLinx or Skinny LaMinx when I was a little girl. And well, my Grampa is always looking out for me from above and I'd do anything to make him proud that I became that unique individual he said I would be. Again, Skinny's not a Swede, but a South African. Not that there is anything wrong with being a South African.

Because my mom, Lady of the Lake, and I are big paper fans: Papier Mache magazine. Now I've hopped over to Australia.

And lastly for today, some Aussie goodness, lmnop. As simple as that.

signed, the willow

Oh to be a Swede

2009-10-29T20:25:00.000-04:00

Why are the Swedes so damn stylish?

We have IKEA

Then there is IKEA

And furthermore IKEA

signed, the Icelander

We did not buy the farm

2009-10-23T12:14:00.000-04:00

But we bought a store. Downtown Huntsville, Ontario.

Come and visit us really soon!

We're busy with a big move and a change in lifestyle. Must be something in the air in 2009, it seems as if we are all smitten with some new venture in our lives. Be sure to stay tuned for the misadventures of Willow and her family.

signed, the willow xxxxxxx

Location Location Location

2009-10-12T09:44:00.001-04:00

They say that location sells a house and it may be the reason we bought this house. Take a walk with me.

Outside meet the big trees out front.

The house is solid and needs a good power wash, but the roof is new and let's walk around back.

Yum! What's that I see? More BIG TREES? Yippee! And a playhouse to boot.

Let's zoom in and see what that thing is beyond the trees. Oooooh a lake!

And now, we'll take a walk indoors where we meet some fugly carpet and mahoghany trim.

The window coverings are sure to block the view.

We've lived with avocado green fixtures before and we'll have to put up with these for the next year or two. But they are clean and functional.

My brother drew up a floor plan of the place for us and listed a few light fixtures....

See?

Now couldn't this kitchen win the ugliest kitchen contest. Here's the bonus, what you can't see is that there is a pantry on the left blocking lower cabinets. Someone actually went to the trouble to match up the pantry to those cabinets thus blocking off the functionality of the cupboards. Ugh. Hello IKEA kitchen event.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

signed, the willow

This is Why I Love the Internet

2009-10-09T15:24:00.000-04:00

"A Daily Dose of Goodness", ABC DEFG! It's the design alphabet of course, silly billy. OMG, I L-O-V-E this blog.

If you are a bride, or even if you're not you need to read Style Me Pretty. Oh, heck have a wedding for your dog and the neighbour's guinea pig if you must. It's all too darn fun!

And I'm one step closer to taking a Swedish as a Second Language course, thanks to Skona hem. Yes, first IKEA, then Lotta Jansdotter. What would we do without the Swedes?

Design Within Reach carries just about every single dining chair on the planet that I love.

I can pretty much tell you that the Origami Club is not like the Chess Club. Hello! Don't you want to run out and buy some delicious paper to make a dozen of these:

No kidding!

And I can't forget about Michelle Forsyth. She's phenomenal. What an artist! I couldn't decide which work to link up to her name. There's too many favourites.

So, many more reasons to love the internet and take the internet out for dinner, maybe on a picnic or on a long romantic walk along the beach.

Until next time.

signed, the willow

It Hurts To Be Away From The Wild Things

2009-10-09T14:46:00.001-04:00

On rainy days such as this, I like think and create and imagine. Today *Mila* and I have been doing just that. In between the mountain of phone calls and paperwork I have sitting inside of my wee brain, we've been tubing, "you tubing" that is. I can't help but wonder about the new movie 'Where the Wild Things Are' and wonder what Maurice Sendak, author of the "Wild Things" book, is thinking to himself.

There are a few creative imaginations in this world that I have carried forward from my childhood. The imaginations that make you feel comforted in sadness and rain. Mr. Sendak's creativity and imagination has carried my family through a very weak period.

You see, we lost our own Wild Thing to Where the Wild Things Are. He never sailed back. As hard as that is, sometimes I can't help but wonder what our Wild Thing is up to with those yellow eyed monsters from the pages of Sendak's book. I have a dog-eared copy that the Wild Thing's big brother gave me. It was new when he gave it to me and we've loved and cherished that book just like we did 30 odd years ago. *Mila* learned to read it as one of her first reads and I love the layout, the illustration and the emotion in the story. It can be interpreted in so many ways by so many generations. For us, the book has personal meaning, and I try to take the sadness away from the book each time I read it.

While the movie is released into theatres today, my eyes are welled up with tears. I can't bear to go to it and sit in a dark theatre with boxes of Kleenex. I have to wait until it's released on DVD so I can watch my very own copy over and over and over.

Thank you Spike Jonze for bringing this story to life. I'm sure that you've done a wonderful, tasteful job and thank you and thanks to Maurice Sendak for the reminder. The reminder to put our imaginations to work and share our vision with the world, no matter how crazy it may seem. 'Where the Wild Things Are' was a banned book. To those 'diots who banned the book: You Just Don't Get It!

Oh and for my brother's sake, "Trailer Park Boys: Countdown To Liquor Day" opens tonight as well.

signed, the willow

Reno Steno

2009-10-02T16:45:00.001-04:00

Keeping track of all the changes that need to be made in the house we bought is challenging. So I decided to share it all here so I can personally keep track and look forward to your input.

First, picking a paint colour is never easy. We want something fairly white, but we want to have white trim, so we do need a splash of colour. We want to paint the whole house the same colour to begin. It will be fresh, clean and create a new beginning. Will it be 'gray horse'? Will it be 'moonshine'? Will it be 'ashwood'?

*Mila* and went to Rona and we daydreamed about this chandelier for her bedroom.

Tembec offers a few choices in flooring and I've narrowed it down to classic maple or clear maple.

When we decided to get these silver front loading washer and dryer, we expected to find a deep countertop to match the kitchen countertop and there begins that dilemma.

Yet another light fixture option for *Mila's* bedroom.

signed, the willow

When I Grow Up I will wear Chocolate on my Smile

2009-09-29T16:44:00.000-04:00

One day you are playing Hot Wheels with your 2 year old nephew and the next day you're wandering down the street with his 15 year old self, admiring an Audi R8 at a Huntsville Car Show.

Seriously dude. When did this all happen? When did my niece give up chocolate on her face for boys and basketball? Okay, she didn't give up on the chocolate on her face and I'll love every minute of it until the millisecond that I take my last breath.

These are things that make life so important and make all the groans and complaints so unimportant. It will continue to be the chocolate on a girl's smile, a car that makes your heart beat faster when you see it in real as compared to that Hot Wheel - the feelings that make you feel alive. The fact that we were together for those moments and now we're about to be together a heck of a lot more and I can't wait to have chocolate on my grown up face too!

signed, the willow

The Bespoke Ent

2009-09-28T09:18:00.000-04:00

My little *Mila* (who is still 5) took this using my camera. I let her experiment with black and white, sepia, zooming, etc. But it was really important for her to take this picture of the "tree with a face". See, that matters way more to a 5 year old than it does to you or me.

I have to say that one of my most favourite places in Ontario is Hidden Valley Park in the Aldershot neighbourhood of Burlington. This photo doesn't even capture all that it has to offer. The trail, the trees. There are Shagbark Hickory trees here that just stun me.

And of course, we love love love La Salle Park in Burlington as well. The swans, the geese, the ducks, the sailboats and our walks on the trail that just could go on forever with laughs and gigles along the way.

So, my list today is my 5 favourite places in Ontario:

5. Grindstone Creek, Hidden Valley Park, Burlington, Ontario

4. Dorset tower in the Fall in Dorset, Ontario

3. Stratford, Ontario by the Avon River

2. Dundas Valley Conservation Area

1. My parent's lakeshore property on Pelican Lake in Sioux Lookout that looks across to Sioux Mountain

signed, the willow

The American Gene Pool is Filled with "Marcia Brady" Look-Alikes

2009-09-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't noticed, the gene pool in America is suffocated with "Marcia Brady" look-alikes. Here is Marcia Brady (played by Maureen McCormick):

Next came Christine Taylor. She played Marcia Brady in the movie "A Very Brady Sequel" and she's married to Ben Stiller:

Then the tv show 'The Hills' came out and all of a sudden, another "Marcia Brady" look-alike. Meet Lauren Conrad. Okay, maybe it's just my spouse and parents meeting Lauren Conrad for the first time. The rest of the Universe has probably met her:

I have a theory and you can decide whether you want to believe this or not. But, I'm pretty sure that all "Marcia Brady" look-alikes are actually sent here from another planet and are in fact ALIENS. If she was that good the first time, would she be that easy to replicate on planet earth again, and again, and again?

signed, the willow (co-founder of I'm Sure Lauren Conrad and People Who Look Exactly Like Her are Born in Pods and are in fact ALIENS)

For breakfast today

2009-09-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

On mornings that I do decide to gulp down something I've been choosing eggs lately. This morning we were rushing around to get out of the house and get going. And so, I reached into the fridge and chose....

smoked salmon....

rolled in a slice of ....

jalapeno.....

havarti cheese.

What is wrong with me? Anyhow.

source: Gypsy Faire Tents

I did choose to reach into the refrigerators of the internet and share this with you tent loving fairies out there. Is this not just the most divine thing in the world?

signed, the willow fairy

...is an IKEA freak

2009-09-17T20:31:00.001-04:00

Once and a while when I'm not updating my status on Facebook and talking about myself in the third person, I get the opportunity to frame things. First, I have to go to IKEA. Then I unpack the goods at home. Followed by asking the dog to cease napping under the articles of goods.

Once I get the fabric away from the dog, I work my magic. Take some frames I had lying around awaiting an art project that was taking years to produce and stick some of that luscious fabric in the frame:

plates, placemats, frame, fabric, table, chairs: IKEA

vase: Dollarama

teapot: Second Cup

key lime cupcakes & flowers: Sobeys

One more thing, Artecnica Inc. It's so lovely.

signed, the willow

Brothers from other mothers

2009-09-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

source: The Brothers Dressler

One fine morning I went on the internet thingy and I decided to see what the Interior Design Show of Toronto was all about. I have longed to go, but with no real purpose and a 5-year-old that would be demanding bubble gum ice cream and other sticky things whilst screaming and clinging onto my leg, my mom and I have chickened out each and every year since we lived in the land of the GTA. (That would be Greater Toronto Area, or as close to the centre of the Universe as anyone can stand) The very first item that caught my eye were the Brothers Dressler. Okay, they are pretty cute. But it was their upcycled work that caught my eye. Brilliant. Now exactly what can I do with my old shoe forms?

signed, the willow

Hello again Kindergarten

2009-09-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

How many times must my child endure Kindergarten? It would seem that we now have Junior Kindergarten AND Senior Kindergarten. Do not refer to the later as "SK". You will be severely beaten by a gang of 5 year olds.

signed, the willow

When did she turn into a teenager?

2009-09-10T17:42:00.003-04:00

Okey dokey Alama-skoki, she's surely not being a fashion queen already? Um, uh-huh, she is. I took her out school clothes shopping a couple weeks ago and I overheard the sales clerk at H&M giggling outside the change room as *Mila* remarked "Oh yeah! These skinny jeans are TOTALLY my style." She has a style? What did I just miss here? Is this the same kid who can't ride her bike up a hill? Is this the same little girl who prefers to cuddle with her teddy bear over playing Scrabble? What about the same little girl who cries when I drop her off at school? Yup, same one. Has no problem spending her parents' money, but has so much growing up to do. Sometimes I wonder if she was hatched out of a Canada's Next Top Model space pod. Tomorrow would be her first day back to school. What will become of the day?

sighed, the mother of a teenage weirdo aka the willow

I just suck

2009-09-09T20:24:00.005-04:00

Really. I suck. If I were making money at this I'd probably say "you suck". But I'm not and so it's me that sucks. Let me introduce you to the successful bloggers.

There's Dooce. She makes like thousands of dollars a day.

Then there's Fussy. She's so cool, she's an "org".

Her Bad Mother is sure not "her bad blogger". She's good too. Then again "Bad is the new good". She said it, not me. Did I mention she's Canadian. That's good too.

There's Three Kid Circus, Sweetney, Surrender Dorothy, I am Bossy and then there are the design blogs...

desire to inspire. Again, 1/2 Canadian, 1/2 Australian. That's so good, it's like saying it's 100% Canadian. Even better.

design sponge.

design milk.

poppytalk. Did I hear you say Canadian? Yup!

Let's not forget Dear Ada and the artsy group of globbers. Like a good idea on paper. And of course the eye for all things art deco, art deco. Kiki and Polly rock. Uppercase Gallery dot ca! Yes, again Canadian. We really have a thing going on up here in Canada. Why is not "down here" in Canada? There must be a small nation of Arctic Circle folk reading Canadian blogs. Or are they Canadian too? Gosh, I should brush up on my geography.

signed, the willow

Happy Labour Day!

2009-09-05T05:56:00.002-04:00

Visit polyvore.com to make your own outfits. For real, dude.

Hope you have a great Labour Day weekend without the rain!

signed, the willow

Grande Skinny Latte

2009-09-03T19:20:00.001-04:00

Sometimes this is all you need to make you smile. No, really. Skinny & latte go together very well. Don't you think?

signed, the willow

Eye for an Eye

2009-09-02T20:03:00.004-04:00

When certain crimes hit the newswave, I sometimes turn a blind eye. Mostly because of my disgust of the actual crime. And most often when children and animals are the victims of the crime.

But I can't ignore this one. I lived in Winnipeg for years off and on and in the last few years it began to change. For the worse. In fact, a few years after we moved away there was a police shooting across the street from our old home. Our home. It wasn't the best neighbourhood, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Just honest people making a living. Seniors rocking on their back porches facing the back lane of Winnipeg, swatting mosquitoes that drift in off the Red River.

Nikita Eaglestick, 19, was charged with attempted murder and abduction after she was seen smashing a 14-month old girl's body into a sidewalk. According to the news report on www.globalwinnipeg.com, "Witnesses say the baby's mother was at the home but left for a short time while the baby was sleeping." But first, let me tell you that there was a house party going on. So, the report continues that Nikita must have snuck into the house and abducted the young child. If it weren't for a neighbour, who thought he was witnessing an attack on a cat, the little girl might already be dead.

What the? Seriously, what kind of drugs do you have to inject, ingest, or inhale to commit such a heinous crime? I don't think I want to know. I do know this, I once bought some fish close to where the incident happened, from a fish market. The whole time *Steve* and I were in the store perusing the fish, I wondered if the windows in his car would be smashed in when we came back out. Luckily, we were safe and so was the car, but it was not a neighbourhood I wanted to go near or dare dream of having my child sleep in during a house party that I hosted while intoxicated. Source of the whole problem, not poverty, drugs. Bad drugs.

As much as *Mila* drives me up the wall some days, I could never imagine my life without her and I know she couldn't imagine life without me. So, I look after me for her sake. Keeping booze and drugs out of my body. Heck, even preservatives are toxic to my system. Meat too. Lots of beans. Lots and lots of beans. Red lentil burgers with walnuts are my new fave! LCBO's Food and Drink Summer 09 issue. Check it out.

signed, the willow

Predator and Prey

2009-08-31T19:39:00.003-04:00

Today amidst the dryer repairman letting his mouse out of the house and painting the garage door, I stumbled upon the predator on my deck. I turn on the tap and there he is just sitting there watching, waiting. Right on my deck.

"Hello, like, there, hawk dude, like, we're not rodents and, like, so the dryer repair dude might have some mice to, like, let out of his shorts, dude."

Tonight, we found the prey. Mr. B. Bunny hiding under the neighbours shed. From talking about the bunny, I turned to *Steve* and told him about the hawk that I photographed earlier in the day. When we told *Steve* about the hawk and showed him these pictures all he said was "Why is our car parked at the bank?"

Me: "Because I let *Mila*, our 5 year old, take the car over there today when she went to apply for a mortgage on a treehouse. Nutbar! That's not our car!"

Sometimes the wonderment of nature ceases to amuse him. He's better off appreciating nature on a 55" Sony while watching a Blu-ray version of King Kong. Ah, nature at its finest.

signed, the willow

Work this into your weekend

2009-08-30T20:11:00.003-04:00

Photo credit: Melissa Brandts

Seriously. So, you're sitting there waiting for your camera to snap a timer shot and this little bugger comes along and sneaks into the shot. All I can say is, at least he didn't block the lovely couple. See, that would have been my luck. My husband with his new wife the squirrel.

Your challenge is to take a photo and sneak a squirrel in. Apparently it's all the rage on the internet. Really. I know, the internet left you behind again.

signed, the willow

Red Cooler Baby, Red Cooler

2009-08-26T10:24:00.006-04:00

In our family, we have an on-going tradition of missing red coolers. This would be my brother's red cooler. He's missing it. I have it. My parents are missing their red cooler too. Someone calls them occasionally and keeps them updated on how their "orange" cooler is doing. IT'S RED! IT IS A RED COOLER!

A few weeks ago we came back home and passed by our misty friend, the Sleeping Giant:

Not to be confused with this guy, the Friendly Giant:

(source: cbc.ca)

Northern Ontario shrubbery being hauled out of the wilds of Ignace and on to its future as a sheet of paper or 2 x 4 in Thunder Bay?

Your driver today will be this guy. At times he annoys his with his impersonation of a cab driver. Cartoon cab driver that is.

Sleep number one of many sleeps on the travels home. I'm sure they love it in the motels when we arrive at 11 pm with our well-rested daughter who jumps on the furniture and flies through the air for 2 hours. "Great, it's the Amazing Traveling Walldoon Circus again!"

signed, the willow

Winning Big with your Ice Cream Recipes!!!

2009-08-24T10:21:00.006-04:00

Now that I am in trouble with 'Lady of the Lake' I am not going to indulge you with any more of her anecdotes. For this week, anyhow. Here we go again with my boring stories about my vacation this summer.

This mansion atop an island all to itself is just slightly famous in my hometown. Riss' Island, as it was know, was owned by the Riss family for many years. Legend be told that Jimmy Hoffa's body was disposed of here. Whether or not that is true or not, I did have the luxury of playing pool on the billiards table there once with Jimmy Hoffa's pool cue. Enough already!

Here we have *Steve* and our charming daughter *Mila*, who insists on wearing that undersized life jacket because it is pink, swimming in Abram Lake.

Making sandcastles with gardening tools and sticks. We're primitive.

Making new friends is so important in the Sioux Lookout summers. Somehow, I always envied the kids that visited Sioux Lookout each summer. Each summer they would enjoy the beaches, lakes and blueberries and each winter they could get the hell out of there and enjoy city life. Now my kid is one of them, a 'citiot'. My brother and sister-in-law take full credit for inventing the word 'citiot". If you have to look it up, you might just be one.

All good things must come to an end. Maybe we should have had another child, just to see if he/she would look like me. *Mila* is the spitting image of her dad, and acts just like me. Aren't I lucky? It's like having *mini-Steve* scream her demands at me. Yay!
Now that we are home, we finally bought that ice cream maker. Yeah, I know. Now the challenge is going to be finding great ice cream recipes that involve little fat, little egg yolks and tons of flavour. Here's my challenge to you: Comment here on what your favourite flavour of ice cream is and if you have a great recipe and name it after me, then I'll make up a custom prize for you. Really!

On the topic of making things up, *Steve* made up this google sports calendar blog and I have to share with you.

signed, the willow

Overheard in the Bush

2009-08-22T14:08:00.004-04:00

There is a fable in the land of Sioux Lookout that if you drink the water of Pelican Lake, you will always return to Pelican Lake.

And here is the proof:

Pelican Lake

Pelican Lake

I'm having trouble getting away from you Pelican Lake.

And now for something completely different.

A true story. Overheard in the bushes with some blueberry picking going on.

A couple from Sioux Lookout were out doing some berry picking when out of nowhere a dude walks along and strikes up a conversation. Remember, this is the middle of nowhere, just outside of Sioux Lookout. The couple are from Sioux Lookout or, as we'll refer to it here, SL. Ready? Set. Go!

Green Bay Dude (retells the story of his life): I'm from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Do you know where that is?

SL man (speaking in perfect English): Of course we do.

Green Bay Dude: Where are y'all from?

SL man and woman: Sioux Lookout.

Green Bay Dude: Never heard of it.

SL man: Well, you're in Sioux Lookout right now. How did you get here?

The SL man has to now describe Sioux Lookout to Green Bay Dude.

Green Bay Dude: Oh! SOO Lookout. Y'all must be French! I didn't understand the accent.

And then off he went, on his merry way, through the backroads of Blueberry country in Sioux Lookout. Imagine the tales he will tell his countrymen about the French people he met in the bushes of Soo Lookout! By the way Wisconsin Dude, the language spoken to you in the bushes of Sioux Lookout was in fact ENGLISH. It is derived from the country of ENGLAND and spoken in Canada as a legitimate language. It has not been bastardized into the "American" language spoken by y'all that does not include the phrase "eh", eh?

signed, the willow

The Summer that Never Came

2009-08-21T20:45:00.003-04:00

Internet, meet the summer that never happened.

Well, there was this one day when the sun shone bright and so we all dropped what we were doing and hopped in the boat for a ride.

Meet our Captain:

His First Mate:

The Event Planner:

The Passenger:

More of Vacation '09 to come.

signed, the willow